Heart
by MzShellSan
Summary: Tony Stark does have a heart, and Loki can't understand why he's surrounded by people who think otherwise. Or 5 times that Tony lets an avenger put him down, and the 1 time Loki refuses to let it slide. Written for Day 11 of my writing challenge: Heart. This is not canon compliant and avenger critical. You have been warned.


**30 Day Writing Challenge**

**Day Eleven: **Heart

**Fandom: **Marvel Cinematic Universe

**Pairing:** Frostiron

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the MCU

**Heart**

**-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-**

When Thor brought Loki to the avengers after their rift to give them the warnings of Thanos and how he intended to invade the Earth to get the last of the infinity stones, neither of them were expecting to find a team so broken that saying that there was a rift between them was polite. At first Loki couldn't understand why this had happened, but then he stuck around to watch the team that had called themselves 'the avengers' interact and found he didn't much like what he saw.

1.

The first time something happened that made him doubt the validity of how the team had ever been was the moment that Thor spoke with Tony for the first time.

"Starkson! It's good to see you." He clapped the other avenger on his shoulder and continued walking, oblivious to the way that the other man flinched and withdrew at the action.

Loki narrowed his eyes as he tried to understand why Stark would flinch away from someone who was considered an ally. Something didn't make sense.

It was more concerning, however, that no-one else seemed to have noticed the flinch. Surely, in a team that had claimed to be friends, who had spent much time together, they would notice his trepidation? Especially the Widow who had once seemed to see all.

Questions began to form in Loki's mind, but he let everything go for the moment. He didn't know enough yet to draw conclusions.

(It wasn't until later he would find out that his brother had held Tony by the neck in his rage, but he contented himself with the knowledge that from then on he could make his brother suffer for the action.)

2.

After the first time, Loki made sure to pay extra attention whenever Stark was around any of the other avengers, mostly curious, but also concerned for his future plans on beating Thanos. How was Stark meant to work with them all if he couldn't trust them?

Bruce Banner wasn't someone who he had expected to cause Stark problems, having been the person that the engineer had seemed closest too, and most open with.

But his expectations were dashed one morning when Bruce entered the common area with a backpack on his shoulder.

The moment Stark spotted it, walls of caution seemed to come over him and everything about his demeanour seemed to change, all forced composure and relaxation, nothing like he'd been only moments before.

Loki was vaguely impressed, but more concerned.

"Leaving so soon, big guy?"

Bruce gave Tony a deprecating smile, and lifted a shoulder. "I can't stick around while _she's_ still here. I tried, but I need a break. You know where to find me if you need me though."

Tony smirked. "Of course. Don't have too much fun. Make sure you let me know if you need anything."

Frowning, Loki wondered if they had forgotten him, but didn't bother to remind them as he watched them say their goodbyes.

Something about Stark screamed pain in the same way that Loki understood all too well. Bruce, the only friend that he had currently living on sight, was leaving him alone to deal with the rest.

It spoke volumes that this had been a familiar song and dance, and Loki had to wonder just how often Bruce had opted to just leave Tony alone to deal with things.

Some friend.

3.

The next time Loki notices someone causing Stark pain without any care for his feelings was when the Widow herself sought him out.

This time Loki forced himself invisible, unwilling to risk being caught as he continued to gather information. He was trying to make plans but they weren't looking good.

He watched silently as the Widow crept near Tony purposefully before frightening.

Jumping, Tony swung around, hand covering where Loki knew to be the metal circle (though he didn't know what it was for), covering it as if he was afraid someone would aim for it.

The panic in his eyes quickly vanished however, leaving behind a professional blankness that impressed the god.

"Jesus, Natasha. Don't scare me like that. I have a heart condition, you know." He reminded lightly. But the way he said that implied that he could honestly fall over and die from being scared.

The Widow didn't seem concerned though, amusement shining in her eyes as she watched him with the eyes of a predator. She seemed all too pleased by how things had gone and Loki had to wonder if she knew that Stark's death was a possibility. Loki had sensed no lie after all.

"Don't be so dramatic." She waved him off. Clearly, she did not understand.

"What do you need?" The engineer moved on, not wanting to stick on the topic. The sooner Natasha was gone, the better.

"I just wanted to see how you were doing. We haven't seen you around much lately."

Stark shrugged. "I've been busy. Still am. So if that's all, I'd appreciate it if you would leave so I can get back to it."

The Widow's eyes seemed to narrow before she smirked. "No worries. But try to make it to dinner tonight at least. Even genius's need to eat."

It was phrased like a request, but there was an undercurrent of demand in her statement and the last part was more mocking than teasing. Loki knew the difference well.

He frowned at her open power play as she practically Sashay out of the room.

(Soon he would come to realise that her power play was considerably more subtle than the other's words.)

4.

The fourth one to prove Loki's rapidly growing hypothesis that the avengers were never a real team was Clint.

Tony had showed up to dinner, as the god had expected and the Widow had demanded, grabbing some food and sitting down to start shovelling it in quickly so that he could escape the room.

The archer scoffed at him. "What, it's too much trouble for you to stick around a for a little while and experience dinner with the rest of us normal humans? You gotta run away so soon after, just like Bruce ran away from here."

As per usual, Tony didn't respond with harsh comments back like he could, he just let them roll over him with false nonchalance, ignoring the barb about his so called 'best friend'.

"Busy lately, don't really have time for eating." He insisted, continuing to eat with fervour.

"Of course, because whatever you're working on is more important than team bonding."

Tony rolled his eyes and smirked. "Clint if you wanted to ask me on a date, all you had to do was say so. There's no need for you to pretend we have team bonding to do. We all know that there hasn't been a single time where we've done 'team bonding' and there won't ever be."

With a look of disgust at the very idea, the archer continued to glare at Tony. "At least tell me you're working on those arrows I asked for."

Tony shrugged. "They'll be done soon enough." He didn't bother to elaborate.

Loki frowned. Someone like Stark should be proud of his work. He had expected the other man to ramble in an attempt to explain where he'd gotten up to in the same way the other man rambled when he was around, determined to get Loki to understand his point of view, all manic energy while his soul burnt bright.

This was subdued, bored. Like he didn't think the archer would care.

And to his credit, the archer did not.

This was also concerning.

5.

The fifth time and final time that Loki allowed himself to watch from the shadows as the team interacted was when the avengers returned from an mission, no casualties and a minor injury to the Widow caused by Stark changing the rules to save a group of civilians instead of watching her back as closely.

It was a good decision that showed his ability to see the whole picture and adapt on the fly to save the most people possible.

The captain didn't seem to agree.

"What the hell was that, Tony?" He demanded.

Stark remained in the suit, refusing to remove it even as they entered the building. "What was what?"

"You know what! You got Natasha hurt!"

The engineer didn't argue, didn't speak in his own favour, instead shrugging. "I had to save those people."

"You were supposed to follow orders. If you had followed them then Natasha wouldn't have been hurt. You have to communicate. If you'd told us about the building then we would have figured something out."

For once Loki was tempted to speak up. The way he was berating Stark like he didn't understand anything, like he was a _child_, made the god's anger rise. But he held his tongue, refusing to be the one to defend Stark before he defended himself.

But as he waited, he realised that Stark wasn't going to argue back. He wasn't going to explain himself. Was it because he didn't think it was was worth the argument, or was it because he knew that the captain wouldn't care.

It was worrying to see, and even more worrying to realise that this meant the entirety of the avengers treated Tony in this way, and probably had from the beginning.

No-one came to Stark's defence as the captain continued to scold, uncaring to defend the actions Stark had taken.

None of it seemed to phase him and he seemed all the more resigned when the captain finished his rant with one final blow.

"Your father would be so disappointed in you."

Those words sealed what he had already known, but been unable to fully comprehend.

The Avengers were not a team. They were not even allies of interest. They were a group of bullies.

+1

The next time Stark (Anthony, he'd been asked to call the engineer by his first name and much preferred Anthony to the shortened Tony that the other seemed to favour) was called out, it was when in a fit of rage, the Witch had raised her hands, red swirling around them.

The captain had gotten hurt while on a mission and she clearly blamed Anthony for it, though Loki couldn't understand why.

Anthony had followed the orders he'd been given, it wasn't his fault that the captain had bitten off more than he could chew and the engineer had been unable to get to him in time. It wasn't like the captain was mortally wounded. A few broken bones that would heal within a few days, a week at most.

"You just can't let anyone be happy, can you? You just have to keep ruining everything good in my life. Look at what you've done now! You're a monster, you don't care about anyone but yourself! You're heartless!"

The engineer just let her rant, trying not to look as terrified as he clearly was by the swirling red of her corrupted magic.

Stepping next to Anthony, Loki glared at her. "Put your magic away. This is not Anthony's fault and you do no-one any favours by throwing this tantrum and acting like it is." He sneered.

"Don't tell me what to do. Stark killed my family!"

Loki scoffed at the argument, having heard it many times before. "No, he didn't. He designed a bomb to be produced for the military that killed your family after being sold under the table. The only version of those bombs that he would have built would have been the original couple. Are you stupid?"

The Witch only seemed to get angrier at his logic, her magic becoming less and less restrained.

"You blamed him for their deaths, but do you blame the person who made a gun, for someone else's death, or do you blame the shooter? Do you blame the maker of a car for an accident, or do you blame the person who didn't drive safely enough? You're ridiculous and childish. Grow up and act your age, because you're trying my patience."

At his final words, the Witch seemed to see her own red, screaming in rage as she threw the magic towards them.

It took less than a flick of his fingers for that magic to disappear, raining down in harmless red sparkles.

"Try that again, and you will find yourself magic-less. I am the Skywalker, god of Fire and chaos, of mischief and lies, and I've been practicing magic for longer than you can _imagine._ But please, feel free to test that." He offered.

From beside him, Anthony seemed to be relaxed, not even calling for his armour, Loki realised. He had expected Loki to protect him – the god realised with a start -, had trusted that when Loki had challenged the Witch he'd known what he was doing.

The thought warmed his heart. The engineer that had been so betrayed had put his trust in Loki's hands without a second thought, even when faced with one of his greatest fears.

There was a certain pressure, knowing you were being relied on so heavily, but more so Loki felt the happiness of such a thing and a strong sense of determination.

He would protect that trust for the rest of Anthony's life if it was the last thing he did.

This may have been the first time he finally stood up for the engineer, but it was only the first of many.


End file.
